


Flora's Adventures in Dropstone

by orphan_account



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Gen, Pandora's Box Spoilers, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 10:30:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18737236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Possible Pandora's Box spoilers in description?This is basically about the part when Flora gets kidnapped by Don Paolo and gets left behind. Bc I love Flora and writing fanfics about her is fun!





	Flora's Adventures in Dropstone

Having lived in a small isolated village all her life, Flora was fascinated with Dropstone. All the people, the stalls and everything else this small town had to offer. She could stay here all day and try all the lovely fruit for sale and win prizes at different stalls.

“Ooh, look at that!” She had spotted a cute teddy bear and ran off to admire it.

Luke followed suit, giggling and shouting to Flora to slow down.

“Be careful, you two. You’ll be liable to run into someone!” Hershel called, glad that the two children were enjoying themselves.

Luke was chatting to the man running the stall about how much it would be to play the game. He didn’t have many coins left and he would feel guilty asking the Professor for more money, so he was trying to barter. The man was chuckling and shaking his head. He thought Luke had some guts to be haggling in this way and he wanted to see how long he could keep this up. It was almost as entertaining as the game itself.

Flora started to drift away from the stall, feeling bored of talk of money. She didn’t have any destination; she just walked along a few steps when she felt hands grab her waist. She squeaked but, being quiet in nature, no one seemed to notice her. The path was fairly deserted even if she had made a noise. Just her luck…

“You come with me, missy.” A raspy voice whispered in her ear.

She didn’t dare say anything unless he decided to hurt her in some way.

They both stopped at the door of a barn. The stranger deftly picked the lock and shoved Flora into the dingy barn.

The door slammed on her, heard the padlock click and she began to panic. Was he ever going to come back for her? Did the professor or Luke even notice she was gone? Her breathing was shallow and she was finding it hard to focus.

_A lady always keeps a clear mind, even in times of stress._

She remembered the professor’s wise words that he had once told her once she had struggled with a piece of homework. When Layton first took her home as his daughter, he decided to teach her from home. It would be too daunting for the young girl to join a school when she had barely got used to the change in her environment. He often gave her questions to complete. At the beginning of her classes, Flora would often have to ask for help. The Professor would gladly assist her but she felt like she was being a nuisance so sometimes, he would find her stressed out over a problem she couldn’t solve. Sometimes, she would be close to tears so Layton would have to comfort her and tell her that it is okay that she doesn’t know the answer.

“But it’s so easy for you, Professor! Why can’t I be like you? Why is everything so hard for me?” Her shoulders shook slightly and she clenched her fists in her lap, wanting so badly to rip up the paper in front of her.

Layton rubbed her back gently and murmered, “Now, Flora. There is no need to say such things.”

After a while, Flora would calm down and dry her face. “Why?”

Hershel smiled. “We, as people, are very different. Everyone is different in their own way. But, on specific terms here, I am much older than you.” They both laughed at that. “And, therefore, I have more knowledge and experience of the world. I would not expect you to know all the answers to every puzzle at such a young age. You have time to learn these things and begin to solve puzzles on your own. But, now, it’s okay to be ignorant and not know the answers. You are no less intelligent for not knowing something. As long as you are willing to learn and keep a clear mind, you will go far in life, my dear.”

Flora nodded. Coming from Layton, she could believe all this. “You’re right as always, Professor. Thank you.”

He smiled fondly. “It’s my pleasure, Flora. Now, would you accept my assistance on this question?”

She giggled. “Yes please.”

Flora smiled at this memory and she realised that her breathing had returned to normal. _Thank you, Professor._ She took a deep breath and tried to think. Thankfully, the sun had come out since she had been shut in the barn and she could see more clearly. She stood up and turned around. There were two cows asleep on the hay behind her. She was slightly wary of them. They looked cute but she didn’t know how they would react to her when they woke up. Hopefully, they were nice…

After a few minutes of thinking, she shrugged and sat down again. Unless she could somehow reach the padlock from the inside and pick the lock, there wasn’t much she could do. A thought had crossed her mind to force open the door but she was nowhere near strong enough. Maybe the cows would do it but she couldn’t talk to animals like Luke could so that was a lost cause.

Her stomach began to rumble. She wished that she had bought some fruit earlier…

“Come on, Professor, Luke. Solve this mystery quickly,” she mumbled to herself.

-

She was beginning to tire of this barn. There was nothing to do or eat and no one to talk to. The cows had woken up and inspected her for a while but, since she had no food with her, they decided she wasn’t important. It took a while for Flora to build up the courage but she decided to pass the time by petting the cows. They seemed to appreciate it and looked at her with big, dewey eyes. Flora smiled at them. They really weren’t intimidating at all.

She had taken to pacing around the barn. Sitting down and doing nothing was driving her crazy. It might not have been so bad if she had a book with her but that had been in her father’s suitcase. She sighed, cursing herself for not having her own suitcase.

A thought came to her that she could try and prise one of the wooden planks off the side. She would be able to squeeze through there easily. She looked around for anything she could use. By some modern miracle, there was a spade leaning up against the trough where the cows would drink from (Flora had a headache from dehydration but she wouldn’t dare drink from there. It would only be for a last resort and thankfully, she had only been trapped for a couple of hours).

She walked over to the wall and tried fitting the metal end of the spade through the small gap between the planks. She pushed the handle towards the wall to see if she could prise the plank off. She grunted a little with the effort she was exuding but it was no use. The planks were nailed to the beam. She dropped the spade in a huff which woke one of the cows up. It snorted at her in disgust.

“Sorry, Daisy!” Flora had decided to call the white cow by this name as it had a yellow tag on its ear. She could admit that it wasn’t the most creative name but she had bigger problems than naming cows.

“Hmm…” She had to think of another way out. She put her hand to her chain, imitating her father’s well-known pose.

She groaned. If the professor or Luke was here, they would have figured a way out way quicker than she would. Anger bubbled up inside her. Why wasn’t she more like them? Why did she have to get in the way all the time?

Once again, her father’s words floated into her mind again. _There is no need to compare yourself to anyone else. You are your own person, capable of incredible things._

Flora grinned. She could do this!

“Oh!” Rather conveniently, there was a hammer on the floor next to where the spade had been. She wondered if this was someone’s private property. She hoped they wouldn’t come in and find her here or be angry if she took out one of the wooden panels. She shrugged. That doesn’t matter as of now. Surely it wouldn’t take that long to fix anyway. All she needed to do was find the professor and Luke!

With some force, she managed to rip the nails from the wooden panel and the beam they were attached to. She bent the nails in the process but again, she figured the farmer would easily be able to get more.

She took the wooden panel and placed it on the floor beside her. She grinned at the gap she had made in the wall. She did this all by herself! It might seem like a small thing but she was happy that she was independent even in a way like this. It felt like a jailbreak to her and she was proud of herself for doing that.

“Well, I’m sorry, cows, but I’m going to have to leave you now. I doubt you’ll be able to get through this gap but please don’t follow me anyway. I don’t want anyone to be mad at me for letting out their cattle.”

The cows were fast asleep. They didn’t hear a word of what Flora had said. She giggled, feeling silly to be talking to animals like this, and stepped out.

She hadn’t been in the barn for long but it felt like she hadn’t seen the sun for days. She was so thankful to feel the breeze again.

\---

“Professor! Luke!”

Flora had busied herself with food and market stalls, waiting for the professor and Luke to return to Dropstone. There had been moments of panic where she wondered if they would even remember but all doubt was crushed when she saw them both turn the corner.

She ran and threw herself at Luke, overjoyed to see him.

Luke giggled. “Oh, hi Flora. I’m, uh… I'm sorry we left you here and all.”

Flora let go and brushed out her dress. “Yes. That was very ungentlemanly of you both.” She tried to be serious but she couldn't hide her smile.

“I apologise profusely, my dear,” Hershel began after he had been embraced by his daughter. “But there was a terrible mix up. You see, the man who kidnapped you disguised himself as you. He is very talented in that field that we had no idea who he really was.”

Flora knew he couldn't lie about things like that but it was just too hard to believe. “But… why would he do that?”

“He wanted the Elysian Box,” Luke answered. “But he didn't get it. We did and- oh, it's such a long story. We'll have to tell you on the train home!”

“Okay!” She grinned, happy to be going home again. She turned to Layton, her face becoming sombre. “Is your mentor okay?”

He nodded, smiling. “Yes, my dear. It turns out he wasn't killed after all. As Luke says, it is a very long story and our train is due to depart soon so we must tell you on the train.”

As if on cue, Sammy’s voice could be heard ringing out through Dropstone. “Hey, guys and girls! The Molentary Express will leave soon! Let's get ready to roll!”

“And there is our final call,” Layton chuckled.

As they began to walk to the train platform, Luke remembered something. “Flora?”

“Yes, Luke?”

“Don Paolo - the man who wanted the Elysian Box - told us that he had trapped you in a barn. Is that true?”

Flora nodded. “Yes but I got myself out.”

“Really?” Luke was surprised. He didn't think Flora would be capable of a breakout of any kind. “How did you do it?”

“I guess I was lucky but I found a hammer in there and I took the nails out of one of the wooden planks and I could squeeze out through the gap.”

Luke looked impressed. “Wow, that's amazing, Flora!”

Hershel smiled, very proud of his daughter. “I agree with Luke on this. You kept a clear head and managed to find a solution to the situation you were in. I imagine it was difficult as you had been thrown into a space which was unfamiliar to you but you got through it. I am proud of you for that, my dear.”

Flora beamed up at her father, tears welling in her eyes. To know that he thought that she wasn't just a weak little girl in his eyes meant so much to her.

“Thank you so much, Papa.”

She hugged him again and Layton was taken by surprise. It took him some strength to hold back his own tears also. Luke watched them both with a grin.

Sammy’s voice rang through the town once more and the trio decided that they should make a move if they didn't want to be stranded here (and in Flora's case, _again)._

Luke told Flora the whole story of what happened in Folsense, with occasional input from Layton. It amused him how animated Luke was in his storytelling so he didn’t want to interrupt him too much.

Flora listened to every word and gasped in all the right places.

“That's so sweet that Katia and Anton get to spend time together now!” Flora said after Luke had finished his story.

“Yes, it is nice to see families reunited after so long,” Hershel agreed.

“Especially this family, right, Professor?” Luke laughed.

He nodded. The Professor sometimes forgot about the three of them being a family as they were rarely in the same house together at one time. Luke had his own house with his parents, Hershel had his teaching duties and Flora had school to go to. He had to remind himself sometimes that they were a family, despite them not being related by blood. Despite that, he wouldn't have it any other way.

“Yes, Luke. Especially our family.”


End file.
